


Emem of Friaca

by Maz_Cat



Series: Historic People of Thera [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Furry, Other, Royalty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:27:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24761533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maz_Cat/pseuds/Maz_Cat
Summary: This tale chronicles the birth and life of Emem, her tribe the Bakda, and her role in history.
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s)
Series: Historic People of Thera [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790704





	Emem of Friaca

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This chapter has a graphic depiction of birth, you have been warned.

There’s a large tribe, Bakda, in the middle of the nama karoo in Central Friaca. The tribe is led by a bloodthirsty Smilodon conqueror named Ashanti who wants to destroy other tribes, kill those that resist, and enslave the rest. She is on her third trimester and is due any day now. Her cub’s father is an overweight lion named Khari who spends his days reveling in his debauchery, leaving Ashanti to man the helm. Her second in command is a melan leopard named Zuberi who acts as her personal assistant, advisor, and leader of small hunts. Ashanti had a troubled youth; her father was a fierce warrior who was slain in battle before she was born, and her mother was the town harlot. When Ashanti was just six years old her village was attacked by another tribe, her mother sacrificed herself to ensure that Ashanti could have a chance to escape. She saw her people mercilessly killed, huts burned to the ground, and what was left being looted. She traveled for days without food or water when all seemed lost, she was found by a hunter and adopted shortly after. Ashanti explained what happened and was promised protection, but her village also promised that. She realized that the best defense is a good offence, so she found the biggest, toughest, strongest villager and asked him to train her. He agreed, day after day for years she followed his lead and swore to herself that she would never let her village burn down again. She grew into a strong, fierce, and ruthless woman and became one of the village’s best fighters. When Ashanti was in her late teens, the same invaders tried to take this village, but she and the rest fought back. Not only did she successfully repel the invasion, but she also led an attack on the invading tribe, decimating them in under a week. This caught the attention of the chief who wanted a bride for his son, Khari, and a worthy successor. Ashanti agreed for the sake of power and authority. A few years later the chief grew ill and never recovered, making Khari and Ashanti the new leaders. Ashanti started her new leadership role by leading hunts across the area. One night on a hunt she and her group spotted a delicious prize, a T-Rex. They attacked with all their might, but luck was not on their side as the beast was fighting back hard. When it seemed like the attack was for nothing, a mysterious figure swooped in and shot arrows in precise locations, mainly the knees, and helped to bring the dinosaur down. All hunters rushed in and killed the beast. The stranger introduced himself as Zuberi and said he needed a tribe for he was exiled from his previous one. When asked why, he responded that the chief was envious of his pitch-black fur and tried to shave it. Ashanti gave it some thought and decided that anyone who was willing and able to take down a dinosaur as big as a T-Rex was worth having. Zuberi was taken back to the tribe and was given many tests of strength and loyalty, he passed all of them. A couple of weeks later Ashanti noticed something was wrong, nausea, vomiting, and she should be bleeding. When she explained this to Zuberi he told her she was pregnant. That didn’t stop her from leading the tribe and at this time she adopted a dangerous mentality; Do unto others before they do unto us. Left and right many villages were annihilated and the survivors were enslaved, one such survivor was a leopard named Deka. Kindly, timid, and passive she was the perfect slave. She’s still serving the Bakda tribe, yearning for her freedom but is too afraid to attempt an escape. Many have tried and few have succeeded in escaping their bondage. Slaves are treated no better than animals they’re naked, fed scraps, exposed to the elements, and are generally seen as inferiors. Deka and Zuberi formed a friendship relating that his mother was a slave. Deka wants a child but fears for their safety and future given her position. Zuberi would sometimes bring willing small children to Deka to appease a dream she might never have. Ashanti noticed that Zuberi was getting chummy with Deka and let him off with a warning. Fearing for Deka’s well-being, Zuberi spent less and less time with her.

Ashanti symptoms worsened as she’s getting closer to birth eventually it became too much, and she laid on a rock. Ashanti laid there for twelve hours and eventually her water breaks slowly, and the cub is coming. Zuberi rushes to her side ready to deliver. It’s a terrible experience, Ashanti’s pushing as hard as she can and without the invention of epidurals, she feels everything. Her face is red and body sweaty from exertion, her legs are stained with blood, the rock reeks of urine and feces as she pushes, and the stress on her mind and body is so strong she vomits on herself. While this is happening, Khari is nowhere to be seen, he’s in his hut gorging on successful kills. The process lasts for two hours, the cub is covered in blood and all sorts of bodily fluids all while screaming its little lungs out. Zuberi cuts the umbilical cord with a crudely made stone knife, puts the cub in a large bowl with fresh clean water, washes it off and give to Ashanti for her to nurse it. The cub is a girl, Ashanti names her Emem and proclaims she will be a great warrior. She hands the baby to Deka to care for, Deka is secretly pleased. Zuberi watches over Ashanti and half an hour later he notices something else coming, it’s the placenta. He delivers it and hands it to Ashanti to eat, which she does. Zuberi carries Ashanti from the rock to her hut and lays her down for some much-needed rest and she falls asleep quickly. Emem cries for hours spitting up when she burps and drooling everywhere but eventually Deka gets her to stop through consistent trial and error. Although Deka is glad to take care of the baby and hopes Emem is never taken from her, she still needs to give her to Ashanti to feed. When Emem finally goes to sleep Deka wraps her in a dino-scaled blanket Zuberi gave her and gently lays her on the floor in the slave hut. Deka lays on the ground and slowly falls asleep. Deka and the other slaves wake up in what feels like only an hour later when Emem starts crying again. Deka takes her out of the hut and gently bounces her, when she doesn’t stop crying, she realizes she might be hungry. Deka goes to the chief’s hut to get Ashanti to feed to Emem but is fearful of waking her up. After a few minutes of trying to work up the courage to disturb her rest, Zuberi approaches from his hut. He hears what Deka has to say and offers to do it for her, she agrees saying she’s in his debt. Zuberi enters the hut and lightly pets Ashanti’s head until she wakes up. She’s agitated and in pain but would have reacted worse if it was Deka. Zuberi hands her Emem, she holds her up to her chest, and Emem begins to suckle. After a few minutes Emem has a belly full of milk and is no longer crying, so Zuberi takes her back and gives her to Deka. Deka heads back to the slave hut where she Emem back to sleep so she can get some rest too. 

Deka wakes up a few hours later at dawn to notice a horrible smell, Emem soiled the blanket. She slowly and carefully unwraps Emem so she can clean the blanket and sees that she had diarrhea. There’s a river about five minutes from the tribe but slaves are not allowed to leave without the supervision of a tribesman. She goes to Zuberi’s hut to see if he’s still awake, he is. He can smell the blanket and agrees to accompany Deka to wash it off. He grabs a medium sized vase and they travel off. When they arrive at the river Zuberi fills the vase full of water, puts the blanket in the vase, and starts cleaning with his bare hands. After a while he pours the dirty water onto the ground and puts clean water in the vase letting the blanket soak. While this is happening, they’re having a nice friendly chat about the baby. Deka wants to raise Emem to be kind and respectful to slaves and servants, Zuberi wants her to grow into an effective reasonable leader who uses violence as a last resort. The blanket is finally clean even though the smell lingers a bit so they both head back to the tribe. When they arrive Zuberi decides to check on Ashanti’s condition. She’s half asleep and is discharging a pink fluid. Zuberi leaves her in peace and starts a hunt. He gathers two lions with him to bring the Bakda food. They find a Dakota raptor, a fully-grown adult male, drinking from a lake an hour later. They sneak behind it making sure to make as little sound as possible. When the distance is right, Zuberi readies his arrow, aims carefully, and fires towards the knee. The arrow hit its mark and the raptor goes down as the group is running towards it, it gets back up and tries to run away. Zuberi fires another arrow towards the other knee and it hits. The raptor is slowing down but still trying to get away. The group jumps on the beast hacking and slashing with stone tools and weapons. The Raptor dies but not without putting up a fight injuring one of the tribesmen. Zuberi and another grabs and carries the fresh kill while the other tries to walk off his wound. Everyone at the tribe is pleased to see that breakfast arrived. As per tradition, the chief(s) eat first followed by the children, second in command, women, men, slaves, and animals. Khari savagely and greedily feasts on the meat, Zuberi grabs a huge hunk of meat for Ashanti to eat. She’s grateful and appreciates the gesture. After breakfast, Zuberi and all the hunters and warriors spend the rest of the morning honing their fighting and ambush skills. The sun is high in the sky, it’s time for another hunt. Zuberi takes two lionesses this time and they search for another meal. They spot a strange creature that looks like a mix between a dinosaur and a dog, whatever it is it’s going to feed the tribe. Zuberi steadies his arrow and fires at the legs. The creature yelps in pain and is on the defense ready to kill anyone who comes to close. Zuberi and his group strike hard and fast, killing the creature almost instantly nearby they notice a nest. There are three large eggs, Zuberi grabs them and looks through them using the sun, there’s life in them. Everyone works together to bring the eggs and the kill back home. Zuberi gives the eggs to a lower tribesman to tame, train, and care for. Deka has been caring for Emem all day occasionally giving her to Ashanti to feed. She is tired but happy that she was given a chance to live her dream. Zuberi thought it would be a nice gesture to care for the infant for a while, Deka is impressed and grateful. Zuberi takes Emem to his hut and gently cradles her to sleep singing a lullaby all the while, the same one his mother used to sing him. He finds Deka and gives Emem back to her, she thanks him profusely. He goes about his duties; checking the chiefs, training the tribesman, and keeping an eye out for would be invaders. When he has fulfilled his duties, he helps with other tasks like animal husbandry, weapon making, and clay sculpting. He likes to make pots and vases, but he’s also fond of reading. Unfortunately, Ashanti orders her men to destroy the enemies’ writing but Zuberi was clever and stealthy enough to slip some past her. His favorite is a clay tablet that says, “However long the night, the dawn will break.” it’s something an old long-gone friend of his used to say when he was feeling rough. After a night of training, sculpting, and reading he settles in for some sleep. The same can’t be said for Deka who is essentially raising Emem. Deka is up and down all night making sure Emem is satisfied.

The next morning, Ashanti is trying to move around on her own but is clearly struggling and still discharging. Zuberi sees this and insists that Ashanti lays back down letting him carry the load. She was always a stubborn one and doesn’t always listen to reason, so she keeps moving until it becomes too much for her. Zuberi grabs and carries her back to the hut for her to relax and rest. Khari refuses to lift a finger in helping Ashanti or the tribe preferring instead to indulge himself in food, drink, and women much to Zuberi’s vexation. Ashanti couldn’t careless though, she married him for power and authority nothing else, so her expectations were low to begin with. Deka gets help from the other slaves in raising Emem much to her relief. Even though it’s only been a few days Deka loves Emem and would do anything to protect her, even if that meant dying. Zuberi continues hunting and training throughout the day making it normal and uneventful. What many people don’t know is that Zuberi lives a double life, in Bakda he’s the chief’s second in command but in Gonmo, an ape city towards the north in the Succulent Karoo, he’s a trader. He trades some of his kills for writing, clay objects, and anything else he finds useful. Deka is the only one in Bakda who knows this and swore to keep it a secret. Sometimes he goes on “solo hunts” when really, he’s sneaking off to barter goods and services. He doesn’t have any friends there though; some know his name but he’s just there to do business and leave. Gonmo is one of, if not, the most advanced civilization in Friaca. The city is protected by a wall thirteen meters tall and five meters wide with dozens of guards patrolling it. All the guards have bronze weapons that curve and armor that’s near fifty millimeters thick. Almost everything, except for buildings, have stone and wooden wheels on them. They have learned astrology and have several tablets and scrolls that map out the stars. The royal family in Gobmo invented the calendar the current date is January 31 Teklehaimanot 38, Teklehaimanot is the current ruling family, and 38 is how many years they ruled. They also created traps made from wood, bronze, and stone and they work quite well on small and medium sized prey. Zuberi strolls through the bazaar hoping to find something that catches his eye, something caught his eye. It’s several scrolls with stories, rhymes, and lullabies. “This would be the perfect gift for Deka and Emem.” He thought he offered his kill, a juvenile Dakota raptor, for the scrolls and the trader accepted. Zuberi traveled back to Bakda with a pot full of scrolls in his arm. He brought the scrolls to Deka and explained what they were, she was happy and appreciative. Deka and Zuberi read the stories, rhymes, and lullabies to Emem. Both have dreamed of having a child to call their own but Zuberi is asexual and no one will touch a slave like Deka, Emem is the closest thing they’ve ever had to a real daughter. Ashanti is still bedridden, and Khari just sits on his ass doing nothing to help. The next day, Zuberri decides to stay in the tribe and take care of Emem so Deka can work elsewhere. He gives her to Ashanti to feed, bathes her, cleans after her, cuddles with her, wraps her in his blanket, and sings her to sleep. Meanwhile, Deka is tending to the tribesmen who all act surly towards her. She cleans their messes and their weapons. Zuberi carries Emem outside in his arms to attend to his duties while still watching her. Zuberi notices tribesmen acting unfriendly towards Deka, so he steps in. He threatens them with broken fingers if they don’t straighten up, they back off for now. Deka thanks him and gives him a small peck on the cheek, he’s amusingly embarrassed. One of the women came up to Zuberi and asked if Emem was his even though they look nothing alike. He explains who the parents are, the woman is mortified but Zuberi is amused and takes the mistake in stride. He shows off Emem to the rest of the tribe and one by one they gather. Most of the women gush about how cute she is and how pretty she will be, most of the men ballyhoo about how she will grow to be a great warrior and conqueror like her mother. Zuberi wants her to be a scholarly diplomat first and a warrior second and Deka just wants her to be happy and healthy. Zuberi thinks Deka needs a break and decides to have Emem for the night. Deka slept peacefully throughout the night but Zuberi didn’t. All night there were a few minutes of crying followed by an hour of silence that repeated until sunrise. Deka goes to Zuberi’s hut to ease him of his burden, he is relieved. Zuberi is feeling tired from a night of Emem crying for various reasons so he decides to sleep in for a few hours.

It’s high noon and the lions are doing just fine without him starting their own hunts. He chooses to earn his meal, so he grabs his bow, some arrows, a knife and takes off. He finds some Dakota raptor eggs in an unguarded nest, he snatches them quickly before the mother returns. He cracks open the eggs and slurps the yolk inside licking the eggs clean. He walks around the area a bit to enjoy the view. He wonders how Ashanti will treat Emem if she’ll be a good mother or a disciplinarian. He wanders for hours until the sun begins to set and heads home. Zuberi goes to Khari who’s in the middle of ogling his harem and asks for his attention. Khari, frustrated and annoyed, asks why Zuberi disturbed his “moment”. Zuberi talks about Emem and pleads for Khari to have a part in his daughter’s life no matter how minuscule. Khari blows him off as he sees the matter as unimportant and unworthy of his time, he chides Zuberi for this and goes back to his harem. Zuberi now frustrated and annoyed goes to Deka to air his frustrations. She listens and agrees that Khari needs to step up in at least one aspect, but since he’s the chief there’s not much they can do, especially Deka. Both make a promise to Emem that if her birth parents don’t act like the people she needs, they will. Ashanti has been out of commission for several days still recovering from childbirth; it would be weeks if not months until she recovers enough to be back in action. She’s getting antsy, she hasn’t trained, fought, or hunted in a while, it’s starting to eat at her. In the middle of the night, a loud cry is heard from outside the tribe. It’s an adult male rhino calling for somebody, anybody, to help him. Zuberi rushes out, heeds the cries and demands an explanation. He doesn’t give his name, but he claims that he and his family were attacked and taken by a tribe of cheetahs who enslaved them and were planning to eat them. He just recently escaped and believes that there’s still time to save them. Before Zuberi can decide on what to do, one of the tribesmen tells him that Ashanti wants to know what’s happening. Zuberi and the rhino go to Ashanti and explain the situation. Without much time, Ashanti agrees to help the rhino, in exchange for enslaving him and his family. The rhino is shocked and outraged, he came to escape slavery not to change masters. Zuberi begs Ashanti to reconsider her decision, but her mind is made and she’s not budging. The rhino refuses the offer offended at the strings attached, Ashanti looks at one of the tribesmen and gives a thumbs down. The tribesman pulls out his spear and impales the rhino through the chest with it, he’s still alive but clearly dying. His last words are “I hope the cheetahs take you and your loved ones.” The same tribesman stabs him through the throat with a knife. Zuberi is appalled by what just happened and asks why she didn’t just let him go. Ashanti justifies her actions by saying “He wasn’t with us, so he was against us.”. Zuberi, disliking the explanation describes the idea of neutrality; that one does not support or help either side in a conflict. Ashanti is too stubborn and narrow-minded to believe in such a concept and assumes that he would’ve come back for vengeance. Deka goes to see what all the commotion is in the chief’s tent, sees the fresh corpse, and stares in silent horror. Zuberi whisks her away from the scene and tries to delicately explain what happened and why. This doesn’t ease Deka in the slightest if anything, it makes her even more afraid.

The next day Zuberi, still displeased of last night’s events, confronts Ashanti and presents different scenarios in which they were in the rhino’s shoes she dismisses all of them. Zuberi walks out of Ashanti’s hut and worries about Emem becoming like her mother. While on a morning hunt, Zuberi and his tribesman see two cheetahs decorated in the bones of dinosaurs and other animals. Zuberi’s not sure what to do; if he shoots, he might start a war that could’ve been prevented if he lets his guard down, he could be killed or enslaved. He approaches slowly with his bow drawn just in case and his tribesman do the same. He shouts to the cheetahs and announces his intentions they don’t want to talk, and a fight breaks out. The cheetahs are fast but weak and frail, Zuberi is the only one who can match their speed. The fight only lasts a few minutes but, in that time, both cheetahs and a lion are dead and the other is wounded, Zuberi only has a few scratches on him. He has no choice but to leave the corpses behind and get his fellow tribesman to safety. He returns to Bakda where everyone is expecting a successful hunt only to be met with the disappointment of failure. He takes the surviving lion to the medical hut where several others are being treated for their injuries. Once he knows that he’s going to be okay, he goes to Ashanti and tells her what happened. Ashanti is furious that someone would have the audacity to attack her tribesmen and sees it as an act of war. Ashanti tries to leave to rally the troops but is still recovering. If war breaks out, Zuberi will have to be the one to lead the charge. He agrees that the cheetahs are dangerous and should be knocked down for peace, but he doesn’t believe in committing genocide against them. Zuberi grabs everyone’s attention, explains what happened, and what’s going to happen. Slaves can’t go out after dark, there’ll be more guard duty especially at night, and two of the best scouts are going with Zuberi after dark to find and learn about the cheetahs. Zuberi goes on another hunt on his own closer to the tribe and is much more successful. He brings back a deinonychus, it’s not much but it’s better than an empty stomach. Everyone is keeping a careful eye out for anything that looks like trouble but so far, all is peaceful. Night eventually falls everyone is on alert and Zuberi with a couple of the best scouts sneak under the cover of darkness. They don’t know where the cheetah tribe is, but they know where to find them. Zuberi leads the scouts to where the fight happened and they find a scrawny cheetah looking up at the night sky, oblivious to his surroundings. They sneak slowly right behind the cheetah grab him and Zuberi muffles his cries with his hand. He drags the cheetah back to the village for interrogation all while he’s crying and begging. Zuberi asks his age and realizes he’s not even fully grown yet. Zuberi can’t help but feel sympathy for the cheetah and acts gentler towards him. Zuberi and his men return to Bakda and everyone’s eyes are on them. Zuberi dismisses his comrades and drags the cheetah to his hut. The cheetah stays silent for a while with Zuberi trying to persuade him, it doesn’t work. So, he goes for intimidation, but it works too well when he mentions Ashanti. The cheetah knows who she is and is reduced to a blubbering mess. Zuberi calms him down as best as he can, and it works just long enough for the cheetah to tell him what he wants to know. The cheetah tribe, Bana, are conquerors and slavers just like Ashanti, there was also a witness to Zuberi’s fight, and the cheetahs sent scouts to find Bakda’s location. They plan to attack Bakda, destroy it, take the slaves, and kill everyone else. The cheetah unwillingly gives his tribe’s location to exchange for his safety. Zuberi can’t just let him go he might warn the tribe, but he can’t just kill him either. Zuberi tells the cheetah that as long as the two tribes are fighting, he can’t leave. He doesn’t make him a slave or a prisoner but an honorary member of Bakda. The cheetah is stunned at Zuberi’s mercy, he thanks him profusely and swears loyalty to him. Zuberi is suspicious of his gratitude but accepts it because he was an outcast who was welcomed in another tribe. He guides the cheetah to one of the huts and tells to get some rest because tomorrow is training. Zuberi checks on Deka and Emem, she’s getting the hang of taking care of a baby. Zuberi is happy for her and goes to his hut to prepare for war.

Dawn arrives and Zuberi was up all night coming up with a plan. The plan is simple; half of the tribesmen will follow Zuberi into battle, the fastest will distract and lure as many cheetahs as they can, leading them to an ambush. They decide to attack at nightfall so stealth will be easier. The rest of the day is uneventful, everyone is training for tonight and Zuberi believes they’re ready. Ashanti come out of her hut still in pain, Zuberi sees her and tries to get her back inside. She refuses and insists that she must say some words to the soldiers. Zuberi sighs and helps her to the top of the wall where everyone can hear and see her. Zuberi roars loudly to get everyone’s attention, all eyes and ears are on Ashanti. “Bakda.” She says “I haven’t been the leader you deserve in the last few of days, but Zuberi...” she gestures to him “has done more than I ever could’ve ask for. I expect all of you to treat him with the respect he deserves. If he falls in battle, all survivors will be punished!” everyone whispers to each other about what kind of punishment. Zuberi speaks up “I think what Ashanti means to say is that you should treat me like you would treat her.” “He dies you all die!” Zuberi puts his hand on his face in embarrassment and takes Ashanti back to her hut. Dusk comes and everyone is getting ready for the ambush. Deka rushes to Zuberi with Emem in her arms looking distressed. She doesn’t want Zuberi to go but knows he has to, so she makes him promise to come back in one piece and wishes him luck. Zuberi gently caresses her face in case it’s the last gesture he ever does to her. Everyone sneaks under the cover of darkness and spots the Bana tribe celebrating. Zuberi and the others get into position when everyone’s ready he points to the tribe, time for an ambush. Two lean lions sneak to the entrance successfully. They whoop and holler to get everyone’s attention, it does. They make a run for it while the cheetahs are running and shooting at them, one of them gets shot in the leg but is thankfully close to the ambush spot. The lions jump out from hiding and attack, catching the cheetahs off-guard. The battle is going well, at first, the cheetahs have more archers than melee fighters and the lions are going down hard. Zuberi is trying to take out as many archers as he can but is shot in the chest, mere inches from his heart. As he lays on the ground in pain wondering if this is the end, all he can think about is Deka and Emem and what kind of life they’ll have without him. Adrenaline kicks in and he get back up, this time he shoots the archers while crouched to protect his torso. Many lions lost their lives, but the cheetahs lost more and with only a few other cheetahs alive, they surrender. Zuberi agrees to let them live under one condition, leave the Bakda lions unharmed unless provoked, they agree to it and they shake hands. Zuberi promises a handful of lions to make up for Bana’s lack of numbers, the cheetahs are in shock of the generous gesture. Zuberi’s feeling faint and collapses on the ground without warning.

He wakes up the next morning in a hut with the arrow missing and his wound cleaned and bandaged. The lions have been watching him the whole night to make sure he was okay, Zuberi asked who did this he’s told the cheetahs did to give him a reason to let them live. Impressed, Zuberi offers tribal membership to cheetahs. They talk in private for a few minutes, decide that there’s strength in numbers, and accept his offer. Everyone goes back to the Bakda tribe when they arrive Zuberi announces the attack was a success and welcomes three cheetahs as new tribe members. Zuberi reports back to Ashanti to tell her the news, she’s pleased that Bana was defeated but is highly disappointed that Zuberi not only left survivors but brought them back as equals. Zuberi says “In times of peace or times of war, friends are always preferred to enemies.” Ashanti disagrees saying “Enemies are good for character.” “One day, you may have too many to handle.” Zuberi says somberly. Zuberi walks out and notices all the cheetahs are talking to the lions and are laughing, he’s happy to see them getting along so well. He walks up to the young cheetah he interrogated and ask for his name, it’s Abioya and he was the chief’s son. Zuberi apologizes and Abioya forgives him knowing how dangerous his father was. Zuberi goes to the slave hut where he sees Deka cuddling with Emem, she sees him and hugs him happy that he’s alive. Zuberi, having a close experience with death, wants to take Emem for the day and Deka accepts. He spends the whole day tending to her needs, carrying her as gently as he can. The sun is beginning to set so he gives Emem back to Deka and goes to his hut for some much-needed rest. It takes a while for him to get comfortable with his injuries, but he eventually dozes off to sleep wondering if Ashanti will give Emem the love and comfort she deserves.


End file.
